Kyiv [Ukraine], October 24 (ANI): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday (local time) said that speed limits on Starlink and Starshield are still in place and it has not been fully restored.
He said things have become harder for Ukraine in its war with Russia due to these limits.
The remarks are in contrast to claims made by Washington, where the US President asserted that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has lifted restrictions on Ukraine’s access to Starshield.
“The speed limits on Starlink and Starshield are still there. The speed has not been restored. And the delivery of interceptors to protect us against Russian ballistic missiles is still delayed. We’re waiting for interceptors that were already agreed on. But they are still not coming. This is a real problem, because the Russians attack us almost every single day. All of this is happening while we continue our quite successful operations on the front,” he said in a virtual address to Hudson Institute.
“We keep defending positions. Things have become harder – partly because of the Starlink and Starshield policies and speed limits. But our frontline is still holding, and I am proud of how strong our people are,” he added.
Zelenskyy also outlined the plans for the trilateral meet of US Ukraine and Russia. He said the meet of the three nations is expected in first half of November.
“My team and I spoke with President Trump’s envoys – Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. We talked about the results of the meetings in Oslo and St. Petersburg, and how we can move diplomacy forward this November. We have an agreement to hold a trilateral meeting – Ukraine, America, and Russia – at the team level. The plan is to meet in the first half of November. We are ready to meet any day – even tomorrow. But it all depends on the Russians. We expected a trilateral meeting this October, too. But it didn’t happen – because the Russians came up with another reason not to meet.”
“Now we all need to focus on making these meetings happen – together with America, Europe, and all our partners. Can they happen without America or without American pressure on Russia? Probably not. That’s why we are really counting on America to keep this a priority at every level. And we need to move from technical-level trilateral talks to a meeting of the leaders – because the key issues can only be settled at that level,” he said.
Stressing the importance of ties with Washington, Zelenskyy said, “I really want our relations – between Ukraine and America, and with all our other partners – to be strong, truly friendly, and without misunderstandings. Because without a strong America that cares about what happens in the world, the world would definitely be a worse place.”
Addressing why Ukraine is speaking more openly, he said, “The answer is simple. We want others to understand us – societies, nations, as many people as possible. When people understand what is really going on, political leaders can take a stronger path – the one that can really bring peace closer. And peace is what we want more than anything.”
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump backed SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and said the latter will never do anything wrong.
“He’s a very good person. He’s not going to do anything wrong. He’s a very brilliant person, or Starlink wouldn’t exist. Elon will never do anything wrong. I know him very well. He’s a fair person,” he told reporters on Friday.
Earlier, The New York Times reported that US President Trump had called SpaceX CEO Elon Musk last week and asked him to restore Ukraine’s full access to the Starshield satellite communications network.
Citing sources, the report said that the call came after Ukrainian officials reported that they were encountering new limits on their ability to operate military drones.
Earlier on October 21, the Wall Street Journal reported that Musk had directed an intentional slowdown of Ukraine’s essential military Starlink network, sparking widespread alarm in Kyiv and leaving the Trump administration bewildered. (ANI)
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